As a physician and healthy lifestyle advocate, I know we cannot achieve the health effects we desire for Rockford by relying solely on our health systems. Other U.S. cities with demographics much like Rockford's have improved their populations' health. They have done so by fostering cooperation among many sectors of the community: health care personnel, schools, businesses and employers, local and state governments and agencies, and churches and community groups. Each of these entities can, and should, promote and participate in programs to decrease obesity and smoking and increase exercise.

Our hospitals are expected to provide excellent acute care. But their respective health systems must aspire far beyond this to reach the holy grail of wellness. SwedishAmerican's new BetterLife Wellness Center, located within the I.D. Pennock Family YMCA, is an example of a substantial investment in the health and wellness of the Rockford region. This new center's commitment to education and sustainable health improvement - through research and performance measurement - promises to play an important role in getting Rockfordians, and Rockford, to wellness. Partnerships, such as this one between SwedishAmerican and the YMCA, will be gratifying pieces that help solve the complex puzzle of transforming Rockford.

BetterLife Wellness will offer practical, evidence-based recommendations through personalized coaching, weight management, therapeutic massage, yoga, stress-management and comprehensive health risk appraisals, all intended to complement and reduce the need for conventional medical care. All services are customizable and are provided at work sites or other convenient venues for reaching target populations.

We all need to adopt a health lens through which we view our contributions. Do we have enough sidewalks and bike paths? Do all children receive healthy lunches, devoid of junk food and soda pop? Do we local employers support healthy physical activities at work and provide wellness benefits? Are incentives to quit smoking readily apparent? These are some of the questions we should be asking while we transform Rockford, one patient - one healthy person - at a time.